The Red Devils have struggled against top level competition in 2014 before an impressive come-from-behind win over Olympiakos in the UEFA Champions League last week, but City is obviously a different animal altogether.

United sit 12 points behind City despite having played two more matches, and they’ve struggled against their “noisy neighbors” in recent years. United is 3-5 against City dating back to an FA Cup match in April 2011.

The Red Devils are in Top Five form, but City has won three-straight since a relatively-dry two-game spell against Chelsea and Norwich. They haven’t allowed a Premier League goal since that 1-0 loss to Chelsea, a match time span of 418 minutes.

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini on the derby being another cog in the run to the PL title: “That is why for our team all the games have the same importance because they have three points, but a derby has a special importance because we know the fans enjoy winning against Manchester United. The players are very motivated to try and win the title. It has been a very close Premier League from the beginning of the season and until the last match it will be the same way. One of the positive things of being eliminated from other competitions is that we are just focusing on the Premier League. We don’t have problem physically or mentally, we are just trying to fight for the title.”

David Moyeson Manchester United finding its big game form: “We we want to try and perform better in the bigger games than what we have done. It will be important for us to show the level of what we have got. I think we have got the level and we are not as far away as many people would have us and I have no doubt it will improve. We want to show we are still in there fighting. We will do everything we can to win. We go out to win every game, not just the derby game. Obviously it means a lot more to the supporters and the city if you win a derby game.”

Prediction

The cliche says that all bets are off when it comes to derby days, and I suspect this one will hold true to that. Old Trafford hasn’t been a fortress this season and that weakening has stood true even longer for City’s visits to United. No one likes to predict a draw, so if I’m going to wager a winner it’ll have to be City. Call it 4-3 to the blue as the defenses battle to contain decent attacks. Goal scorers: Rooney, Valencia, Mata, Dzeko (2), Toure, Silva.